Howden win at the Better Society awards

Howden win at the Better Society awards

We are delighted to announce that we have received another accolade for our 2019 Million for a Million fundraising campaign, which raised over $1.5m for Cancer Research UK, Black Dog Institute, Plastic Oceans and InteRed.

This time we were honoured at the Better Society Awards, taking home the trophy for Best Scheme to Encourage Staff Fundraising. You can see the rest of the shortlist here.

Congratulations to our CSR team and everyone who took part in Million for a Million! We always knew it was special but it is fantastic to receive external recognition for everyone’s efforts.

About the Better Society Awards

The Better Society Awards reward commercial companies who are helping create a better, more equal, ethical and sustainable world for all.

Howden Group Holdings recognised for outstanding CSR programme at Corporate Engagement Awards

Howden Group Holdings recognised for outstanding CSR programme at Corporate Engagement Awards

We are proud to share the news that Howden Group Holdings were awarded ‘Best engagement of an internal audience in a CSR programme’ at the 2020 Corporate Engagement Awards for our Million for a Million campaign which raised over $1.5m dollars for Cancer Research UK, Black Dog Institute, Plastic Oceans and InteRed.  Our Million for a Million campaign also took home the silvery trophy for Most Effective One-Off Campaign

Million for a Million (M4M) formed part of our 25th anniversary celebrations and set out to raise US$1 million for four key global partners covering four key objectives: physical health, mental health, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.   Fundraising activities reflected who we are as a group; inclusive, daring and creative, harnessing our passion, energy and team spirit to accomplish the unimaginable and have fun along the way!

Over the space of one year, our people organised and took part in 190 events, with over 5,000 participants across 20 countries. Sporting challenges proved popular with many hikes, marathons, bike rides and triathlons organise but there was also room for more cerebral, artistic and culinary pursuits such as comedy nights, concerts, quizzes, escape rooms, lunch and learns, open mic nights, craft fairs and of course, lots of baking!

Highlights of M4M include:

  • Hyperion Atlantic Challenge: Howden Specialty’s Alex Simpson and his friend rowed across the Atlantic and broke two world records – the fastest two-person crew to row across the Atlantic Ocean and the youngest person to row across three oceans
  • Rain to Spain: 16 cyclists travelled from London to Barcelona on a 10-day, 1,413km ride. Together they raised an incredible $150,000
  • Mt Chimborazo Expedition: Nine colleagues climbed the 6,263m inactive volcano – the closest point on Earth to space!
  • Odelia Sever Concerts: Odelia is a world-renowned concert pianist and held concerts around the world to raise funds for M4M
  • Head shaves: Two of our CEOs shaved off their hair while raising funds for and awareness of our charity partners. Our Group CEO, David Howden, raised over $200,000 for M4M
  • Camino de Santiago: Employees from across our business completed 66km of the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela
  • Singapore Amazing Race: Raising US$50,000, this event saw 16 teams of insurers and other partners compete to be crowned ‘The Most Amazing Team’ in the Singapore insurance market

Winning these awards is fantastic news, not just because it recognises the amazing achievements of our people and the incredible amount of money and awareness raised for good causes but on a deeper level for us as a Group. Million for Million was the first time each of the companies that make up Howden Group Holdings worked together on one single fundraising goal and gave us a taste of what we can achieve when we collaborate and combine our talent, resources and determination; something we intend to replicate in our business life following our recent merger.

About the Corporate Engagement Awards

The Corporate Engagement Awards was launched in 2011 by Communicate magazine. The awards programme has grown to be the benchmark for collaborations that have excelled and push the boundaries.

You can read more about the other winners here.

Global Group Giving Week

Global Group Giving Week

September 21st- 27th saw the whole of Hyperion Group come together (socially-distanced, of course) to volunteer, fundraise, donate and raise awareness for their chosen local charities for our first Global Group Giving Week initiative.

An amazing 29 countries took part in challenges such as the Kilometre Challenge, the One Bag Challenge and countless other individual fundraising initiatives. Together, we travelled 16,259 kilometres, collected over 910 bags of litter, volunteered many hours for our local charity partners and much more!

You can find out more about Global Group giving week, including the charities we supported, in this short video.